Stuff, and STUFF.

By Jamey Newberg | Friday, May 28, 2010

Rangers in on Roy?

Just don't see it happening

Watch out for L.A....

Speaking of the Angels, there remains one confirmation I need to firm up, but we've tentatively targeted Sunday, July 25, for Newberg Report Night at Rangers Ballpark, when Texas tees it up against the Angels for the fourth of seven head-to-head battles in a huge 10-game span.

Maybe the ownership transfer will be complete by then. Maybe a new impact player or two will be in uniform. Maybe it will be as big a July game as we've had here in years.

Expect the usual stuff: late-afternoon Q&A sessions with a couple of the best baseball writers in the country and some of the top officials in the Rangers organization - less than a week before the trade deadline - plus a raffle and auction of baseball memorabilia to raise money for charity, and tickets for close to 300 of us to sit together at the game.

We hope to lock the date in soon. Stay tuned.

In the more immediate future, our second live, in-game chat session hosted by Fox Sports Southwest will be this Wednesday, June 2, when Texas visits the White Sox for a 7:10 game pitting 2-5 righthanders Scott Feldman and Gavin Floyd against each other.

Finally, while I'd continue to suggest that Roy Oswalt isn't likely to be a Texas Ranger by time we gather on July 25, there are two other righthanders who pitched yesterday that just might be.

At Oklahoma City, in Game One of a doubleheader against Seattle's AAA affiliate in Tacoma, 2007 supplemental first-rounder Tommy Hunter (making his fifth start of the season) held the Rainiers to one run on four hits and two walks in four innings (68 pitches), fanning five. Jon Daniels said in a chat session yesterday that Hunter is ready to go whenever the need in Arlington arises.

Relieving Hunter was 2009 supplemental first-rounder Tanner Scheppers, making his sixth RedHawks appearance after six Frisco games pitched.

Second Scheppers inning: walk, strikeout swinging, shortstop error to put runners on first and third in what was a one-run game, strikeout swinging, strikeout swinging.

Third Scheppers inning: strikeout swinging, strikeout swinging, 3-1 putout to close out the 2-1 victory.

Seven strikeouts and zero hits in three innings.

Overall, in 13 AAA frames, Scheppers has scattered two runs (1.38 ERA) on eight hits (.174 opponents' average) and seven walks while setting 22 hitters down on strikes. In his 11 Frisco innings, he permitted one run (0.82 ERA) three hits (.079 opponents' average) and zero walks while fanning 19.

With one exception, Scheppers has pitched on three or four days of rest every time out this year, so he's probably going to get the holiday weekend off in New Orleans before he takes the mound again, probably when Oklahoma City returns home to host Memphis.

But at the rate things are going, both in Oklahoma City and in Arlington, where the starting pitchers continue to fail to get out of the sixth inning on average and the current long man is walking far too many batters, I once ask the question I first posed on Twitter on May 13:

Alternate spelling for "Nippert" before long : S-C-H-E-P-P-E-R-S?

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Jamey Newberg

Dallas attorney Jamey Newberg has been commenting on Rangers from the big club down through the entire farm system since 1998.

Scott Lucas

Scott Lucas was born in Arlington, Texas, to Richard and Becky Lucas. He lived mostly in Arlington before moving to Austin, where he graduated from The University of Texas. Scott works for Austin Valuation Consultants, Ltd., and has published several boring articles about real estate appraisal and environmental contamination. He makes a swell margarita and refuses to run longer than ten kilometres.

Eleanor Czajka

Eleanor grew up watching the AAA Mudhens in Toledo, Ohio. A loyal Ranger fan since 1979, she works "behind the scenes" at the Newberg Report.